Starwood kicks off mobile phone hotel room keys

Starwood Preferred Guest members can now use their smartphone as a hotel room key at ten properties across Asia, the Middle East and North America, with all Aloft, Element and W hotels activating keyless entry throughout 2015.

SPG Keyless enables guests to bypass the front desk by checking-in through the existing Starwood mobile app, before receiving their room number electronically and heading straight to their room.

Travellers can now ditch their traditional room keys at the W hotels in Hong Kong, Singapore, Hollywood/Los Angeles, New York-Downtown and Doha; at Aloft properties in Beijing, Harlem, Cancun and Cupertino; and at the Element Times Square hotel.

The only catch? You’ll need to book the stay directly with Starwood – either through one of its websites, its customer contact centres or the SPG app itself – to swap your plastic key with a smartphone.

SPG Keyless: setting it up

To get started, simply download the SPG app from either the iTunes Store for iPhones or Google Play for Android devices, log into your Starwood Preferred Guest account via the app and enable push notifications.

If you’re packing an iPhone with iOS 8 – including the iPhone 4s, 5, 5s, 6 and 6 Plus – or an Android gadget powered by Flavor 4.3 or higher – you’ll see the ‘SPG Keyless Registration’ button on the right-hand side of the SPG app…

… simply tap it and follow the prompts until your device is registered:

Around 24 hours before their arrival, SPG members will then receive a push notification to complete mobile check-in, along with their room number and their digital room key.

You’re then free to roam the hotel whenever the app is open and Bluetooth is enabled, as you’re able unlock the elevators, gym, executive lounge (where available and eligible), and anywhere else that traditionally requires a room key.

Chris Chamberlin is the Associate Editor of Executive Traveller and lives by the motto that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, a great latte, a theatre ticket and a glass of wine!

It's really only the Apple Watch (or other enabled watch) that'll make this sing, because then you don't have to fumble in your pockets for a phone (which is what you do now anyway, for a key card). I love the idea of just flicking a wrist (either a hotel door, or even better, while walking through an airline boarding gate) and you've done the task. Hands free fun!